Homeowners in Portland's historic districts could soon see clearer path to minor home improvements

View full sizeHomeowners in Portland's historic areas could see a loosening of restrictions on how they can and cannot alter their property.John M. Vincent

Proposed amendments to the city of Portland's zoning code would enable homeowners in historic districts to make minor home improvements with faster review, more exemptions, lower fees and clearer understanding of historic preservation rules.

The Planning and Sustainability Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments at 6 p.m. Tuesday, then make a recommendation to City Council. The city commissioners are expected to make the final decision as early as March. If approved, the amendments would be effective in June at the earliest. Any fee changes would be effective at the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

Tim Heron, city planner at the Portland Bureau of Development Services, said that if passed, the amendments could accomplish three goals: enabling a faster review process, allowing homeowners to be exempt from the regulations when necessary, and clarifying language.

Jay Sugnet, project manager at the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, said, "We are still trying to achieve the historic preservation goals. We're just making it easier and quicker for folks who want to make minor improvements."

Sugnet said the Irvington Community Association was a key instigator of the project. Residents petitioned for the Irvington Conservation District to become part of the Irvington Historic District, Portland's largest, in October 2010. While this was a victory for some, it came as a surprise to others, which meant a surge of questions coming in regarding whether or not regulations applied to them.

"Homeowners were caught off-guard; they didn't realize they were in a historic district and that regulations applied to them," said Sugnet.

According to Heron, many of the cases could have been exempt from regulations or charged lower fees had the code been altered slightly. "These cases kept coming up, much to the frustration of both homeowners and city staff," said Heron. "It was then we realized it was time to change things."

Homeowners also said the zoning code is difficult to understand. The proposed amendments would clarify regulations, possibly with a chart showing which regulations apply to which home improvements.

"The idea is that people could look at it and say, 'I need to put in a new door,' and the chart gives them a better idea of what to expect," said Barb Christopher, chairwoman of the Irvington Community Association's historic preservation committee.

As part of the code improvement project, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability surveyed nine other cities with historic resource protection programs that were relevant to the proposed zoning code amendments in Portland. One common theme the bureau found was that home repair and maintenance are typically either exempt from review or reviewed in one day, whereas restoration projects require administrative review.

Sugnet is optimistic that the proposed amendments will pass.

"We are hopeful that the package put together is one that most reasonable people will support and that at least something similar will be adopted by City Council," he said.

"To have code that incentivizes and encourages renovation is what makes historic preservation work," said Christopher.